The Philadelphia Flyers wrapped up a home-and-home series with the New Jersey Devils and started a set of back-to-back games. Team captain Sean Couturier returned to the lineup after dealing with an illness. Rodrigo Abols was taken out. Defensive breakdowns and turnovers kicked the Flyers in the backend as the Devils crushed them 5-0. Samuel Ersson was pulled out of a game for the first time in a while and Ivan Fedotov took over. The Flyers fall back to hockey .500 at 23-23-6.
The Flyers got the game’s first power play at the 6:45 mark of the first period as Tomas Tatar got called for hooking. They struggled to set up in the offensive zone and didn’t record any shots on net. The Devils got a few good chances while shorthanded but Ersson made big saves.
The Devils got their first power play at the 19:26 mark of the first period as Morgan Frost was called for hooking. Ondrej Palat capitalized on the opportunity as his shot went off Nick Seeler’s skate, bounced around in front, and he eventually put the puck past Ersson. Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt collected assists.
Curtis Lazar was called for interference at the 2:00 mark of the second period which gave the Flyers their second power play. It was cut short, however, as Tyson Foerster was called for holding the stick at the 2:24 mark. This made it four on four.
The penalties kept on coming for the rest of the period. Jack Hughes was called for slashing at the 3:47 mark of the second period. This made it four on three in the Flyers favor. They had a brief power play after this ended but couldn’t get anything going.
L. Hughes gave the Devils a 2-0 lead at the 6:27 mark of the second period. He went on a 2 on 1 with his brother Jack. Luke sent a wrist shot low stick side on Ersson. No assists were given.
At the 7:06 mark of the second period, Johnathan Kovacevic was given two minutes each for roughing and cross-checking, Kurtis MacDermid was given two minutes for roughing, Seeler two minutes for roughing, and Garnet Hathaway four minutes for roughing. This kept the game five-on-five.
It truly became a penalty fest in the period. Jamie Drysdale was given two minutes for roughing and Stefan Noesen was given two each for roughing and interference at the 7:56 mark of the third period. Tatar served the interference penalty. This gave the Flyers their third power play. Both goaltenders had to make big saves.
The Devils got their second power play at the 10:57 mark of the second period as Couturier was called for hooking. Nathan Bastian capitalized on this opportunity. Timo Meier’s shot went off the stick of Seeler and Bastian put in the wide open net. This made it 3-0 Devils. Meier and Hughes tallied assists.
62 seconds later, Dawson Mercer gave the Devils a 4-0 lead at the 13:43 mark of the second period. Meier passed the puck to him in front of the net and Mercer’s wrist shot went past the glove of Ersson. Meier and Brett Pesce were given assists.
Ivan Fedotov took over in net for the Flyers after the Mercer goal. Defensive breakdowns lead to these goals so not much to blame Ersson for.
J. Hughes gave the Devils a 5-0 lead at the 1:58 mark of the third period. This was a give and go goal as Bratt and Hughes passed the puck to one another and Hughes ultimately put a snap shot into the wide open net. Bratt and Pesce received assists.
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Nick Seeler was called for interference at the 14:35 mark of the third period which gave the Devils their third power play. The Flyers did a nice job clearing the puck and not giving the Devils anything to work with. Fedotov did have to make a tricky save, however.
The Flyers went 0 for 4 on the power play and killed off one of three Devils man-advantages.
Ersson was pulled after the Devils fourth goal. He saved 12 of 16 shots, giving him a .750 save percentage. Fedotov took over in net and saved 9 of 10 shots, giving him a .900 save percentage.
Goal Summary
1st Period:
No goals
2nd Period:
Palat (11) (Power Play) Assists: J. Hughes (40), Bratt (41)
L. Hughes (4) Assists: none
Bastian (3) (Power Play) Assists: Meier (21), L. Hughes (17)
Mercer (13) Assists: Meier (22), Pesce (7)
3rd Period:
No goals
Flyers Next Game
Flyers next game is Thursday, Jan 30. in Philadelphia against the New York Islanders.
